Chapter 34: Dark tide (2)
Imperial Royal Guard Barrack
Even excluding the 'combo and cancel' function of the XM3 that allow any Eishi to utilize any unworldly acrobatic with ease while cancelling unnecessary lagging, the XM3 was still vastly superior to the current OS.
How? The problem was with the question 'how?' itself and in itself. Running a piece of extremely complicated and delicate state of art machine with merely a computer of hundreds thousands parallel circuits, it was utterly ridiculous. Until this day, we all fail to realize it. But that was however the current state of technology of this world, and everyone couldn't help but accepting such ridiculous fact as normal.
Compare to the technology and weaponry that we used during the WW2, the advance in weaponry of this world has taken giant leaps after the first encounter with the BETA. However, we still perceived and developed the TSFs as though they were tanks or fighters. That's why we all failed to realize that the software and technology that support mankind's best weaponry-TSFs was lagging behind, comparing to the technology that use to develop TSF.
A TSF was nothing like a tank or a fighter that the world has ever seen. It is tougher than any kind of tank, has more mobility than any fighter, yet more delicate and sensitive than any kind of vehicle that mankind ever created. As the result, such a complicated electronic crafts need more than just some delicate manual touch from the Eishi or modification from field engineer. Yet, up until now, we all fail to perceive it that way and held back the true potential and capability of the TSFs that we produced.
However, the XM3 was different from any OS hitherto produced. The inventors and developers of this piece of miracle of an OS clearly have a totally different thinking style and perception regarding of TSF compare to anyone else. This OS was created to make a TSF live to its truest potential.
The XM3 was the first OS of its kind, making the entire world realize just how ridiculous our attempt to run a TSF with the current OS. A technology breakthrough it truly was, introducing dozens millions of parallel circuits board to run the TSF. In another word, instead of running a TSF with a piece of software and hardware that would only hinder a TSF's capability, 2nd Lt. Shirogane Takeru and Professor Kouzuki Yuuko ran the TSF with the best super computer that was available to mankind. As the result, the execution timing improved vastly, leading to a huge boost in mobility and manoeuvrability of the TSF. Furthermore…
"Excuse me"
A female voice rang at the same time of the door knocking sound.
"Come in"
Putting down a thick stack of document that he was reading on the table, the head of the Ikaruga household answered to the knocking.
Neither too fast or too slow, a bespectacled woman in red uniform walked in.
"Ikaruga sama," the woman saluted.
"What's of it, Tsukuyomi?"
"It's the Ministry of information, the second sector, sir"
The bespectacled woman answered.
"Good, I was expecting their answer."
Ikaruga replied with a satisfied grin on his face as his eyes drifted back at the piece of document on his working table.
Imperial Palace
"My apologies for taking up your time even when I was the one who asked to speak with you."
Even if it was but minutes, she was indeed late for the appointment. The girl in a regally jūnihitoe regally bowed at her guest. Every single thing about her was incredibly fitting that of a member of royalty, whether it was her outfit, her figure or gesture. People could hardly find fault in her word or manner. It was neither too polite nor too informal. The prior meeting with the Imperial Army generals took longer than she expected, as the result she was behind the schedule. Even if she could blame on that meeting, the girl would never do something like that. It wasn't in her nature to come up with some excuse like that. Such was a virtue of Koubuin Yuuhi.
"No, Your Highness. I knew just how busy you are and plus, it's been so long that I was able to visit Kyoto," the guest respectfully bowed, courteously giving his reply.
A man with an imposing atmosphere he was, the Shogun's guest. He was a soldier with well built physique and a Lt. Colonel on top of that. A large scar ran down his left chin went unusually well to his masculine figure. Iwaya Eiji was the name of the bowing man.
It has been a while since Iwaya met the Shogun herself in person. The last time, he was the one who requested an audience. However, this time, it was the Shogun who summoned him. And this time, for some reason, a man belonged to the Ministry of Information was also standing at the corner of the room, next to the Shogun. A cryptic smile that always flashed on his face and the Indiana style suit that was a part of his usual dress code identified the man as Yoroi Sakon, the chief of the second sector of the Ministry of Information.
The sight of the chief of the second sector of the ministry of information provided enough hint for Iwaya regarding the reason why he was summoned here today. After all, the old spy was also acting as collaborator for the UN pro-Alternative IV and the Imperial Army.
"Iwaya san, since you have guessed the reason behind this summon, I would not take up your time with formality any further. Iwaya san, I want to hear your opinion about the running trial test for a new concept base OS at the Yokohama base at the moment."
Yuuhi calmly asked, locking her clear marbles at Iwaya. A subtle disturbance on Iwaya's poker face when he saw the figure of Yoroi Sakon at the corner of the room wasn't missed to Yuuhi.
"Your Highness, your insight is really something," Iwaya breathed out amazedly as though he was pre-empted, "About my opinion, I believe it would be somewhat similar to that of Your Highness. Aside from all the positive feedbacks from the observing teams that we sent, my developing team has already sent people to sign contract for that OS after the first day of the test. It has been so long that I felt so excited just by watching some battle recording. I mean… what kind of OS was that? For a second, I thought I had a heart attack when I saw those irregular movements of that Shiranui that kid use. The thought of our 3rd generation TSF could perform those ridiculous aerobatic in that manner has never crossed my mind. Was it even a Shiranui? It moved way too fast that I thought that those Raptors were slow for a moment. And this is the Raptor that we are talking about, the Raptor, American's top in the line TSF. It was simply too amazing. We could spend billions dollar to develop our current TSFs and I doubt that they could move like that kid's TSF, much less mass producing it. And that kid has done the same thing as we did, no even better, whether it was in efficiency or produce cost. What kind of kid was that? Just by making that mad scientist Kouzuki to lend him a hand in creating this miracle OS was already amazing. But, that kid Shirogane Takeru was…"
Iwaya gave his reply, almost too emotional on the topic. He didn't look at least like a top figure of the RnD department of the empire at all. It was more like an excited little boy talking about hi favourite TV show.
"Ahem, forgive me Your Highness for getting ahead of myself like this."
Feigned clearing his throat, Iwaya bowed apologetically, realizing that he has gone totally off the topic, rambling nonsensically.
Though, the Shogun didn't look like she was offended at all. It's more like she was surprise and actually enjoyed watching such rare reaction from Iwaya.
"No, it was rather refreshing to hear such unbiased reference like that. I appreciated it."
The Shogun softly chuckled, showing a genuinely delighted expression.
"Your Highness…?"
Iwaya asked, slightly taken aback by the Shogun's reaction. While he was utterly surprise at himself for his sudden rambling, he was more surprise at the Shogun.
Iwaya wasn't that close to the girl who has the weight of a whole nation on her shoulder that he could understand her personality well. But, just like how Iwaya has mysteriously behaved unlikely to his normal self, the girl who delicately giggled at the moment wasn't like that of the Shogun that Iwaya knew or at least the Shogun's image in eyes of public.
"I am glad that you have such high opinion on him, that Shirogane, Iwaya san… Yoroi"
The Shogun the held back her girlish giggle, waving a hand at the grinning spy who stood at the corner of the room.
The old spy stepped forth like he was ordered; on his hands were a compile of documents. The usual cryptic smile flashed as though it was pasted with everlasting glue on his face, making it impossible for people to guess the old spy's intention. But, this time, rather than carrying out that usual feature, the smile on his face served as his anticipation toward Iwaya's reaction to the content of the document that he was handing.
After all, Shirogane Takeru personally wrote it and requested the old spy to hand it to Yuuhi in person. It was a small portion of the one of the world most invaluable military document. This was something that just as invaluable as the blue print of the XM3. This was something that could truly put a conclusion to the losing war that mankind fought for decades. This was something that marked the victory for the pro-Alternative IV and the end for the members of the fifth plan. But should it fell in the wrong hand, every sacrifice, every effort until now would be for nothing.
The legacy of the Valkyries and Sadogashima's BETA was the name of the document that was handed to Iwaya Eiji.
1227 hours, 12th December 2001
The earth trembled under her fury, collapsing and cowering as if to beg for mercy. But the fury of Marimo seemed to have no limit. 120mm HESH rounds from her cannons continuously rained down upon the demolished highway, trampled anything according to Marimo's wish.
The radar feedback link between Marimo's Gekishin and Takeru's Shiranui has been severed long ago due to the jamming. Thus, Marimo could only rely on the data simulation from her OS to predict and determined the movement of the undergrounded BETA. Using that cue card, Marimo has brought down every underground infrastructure that could possibly lead the BETA toward Takeru's immobile Shiranui.
The seismic meter spiked dramatically around Marimo due to the impact of the collapsing infrastructure. Dust and rubbles that blasted into the dry air only made things worse, rendering the visibility to ten meters at best. And the heat exuded from 120mm HESH shells set the heat detector off. In another word, Marimo made herself vulnerable to any BETA's surprise attack right now. Marimo persistently pounded the surface of the ruin Hiragi while she understood fully the danger of this task. Still, Marimo was totally committed to this task. She was doing the task as though her whole life depended on it.
I will save him.
It was the only thought in Marimo's mind. It was however the strongest drive that allowed Marimo to abandon the code of conduct and military rule that she was bound to follow.
Was this atonement? Or it was an act of redemption to her mistakes in the past?
A fragment of doubt ascended on Marimo's mind as she unleashed volley after volley on the collapsing infrastructure. Even Marimo found this chain of event was strange to her. She had never thought that she would see the day when she would go against everything that she once stood for in this manner.
Back then, she could only watch her squad, her students died…
She used to blame herself for that, even now, if only she made a different choice, if only she made a correct decision, thing could turn out completely different.
So, this time, did she make a correct decision?
Unknown to the conflicted Marimo, shadowy figures rose up from the collapsing ruin, creeping toward her under the black fog of war.
XXXXXXXXXXX
I could still hear the echoing noise of the faraway gunfire and explosion as clearly as though I was right there at the scene. Occasionally, I could also hear dust and rubble dropped down on the steel armour of my TSF. I could clearly register such subtly audible noises without much effort. Maybe because my sight was sealed away that my hearing was sharpened up.
I could hear almost everything around me. From the sound of the dripping liquid on the armour of my Shiranui to an uncharacteristic hissing sound, I could clearly hear them.
My hearing wasn't the only thing that was sharpened.
My skin tinged as I sensed a gust of humid wind blew into my dark cockpit. After that, a nauseating smell entered my nostril, making my stomach churned. Along with the smell of the filth, there was also the smell of burned rubber and metal. A combination of those odours would normally strike a sense of nausea to anyone, sick even. But for me, at this moment, it was like relief rain after a century of draught.
I excitedly set light to my pitch black cockpit with the lightstick in my hands.
This was better than I have ever expected. It worked… it worked… it really worked. In fact, it worked a dozen times better than what I dared to imagine.
Under the dim light produced from the chemiluminescence reaction, I could clearly see that a portion of my cockpit was melting. A small hole was formed since I don't know when on the metallic layer of the cockpit and it was still enlarging in front of me. A thick and gel like liquid came along, sipped into the cockpit through the newly created hole. Wherever it went, smoke followed. Whatever it touched melted.
This gel like substance may have been a grim reaper for many Eishis in the past. Yet ironically, it became my rescuer at this moment.
This was what I have been waiting all along.
The Fort class would secrete an extremely strong acid that could liquefy the thinnest metal sheet of my TSF in lesser than a minute and my armoured suit in lesser than 10 seconds. Normally, it would secrete this substance upon impaling the tip of its tentacle at any TSF, ensuring the death of the Eishi. Though, it was already an instant death for anyone if that 20 meter wide tip were to impale their TSF.
Thus, my goal all along was to puncture the sac of acid within the Fort Class' belly and let it liquefy the inner frame of my Shiranui. Still, it would take too long for the acid to eat up the metallic thick armour that meant to protect the Shiranui. It could at least take up an hour or two until I could escape.
But, compare to the tank like outer layer armour that was designed for aerial dynamic and shielding, the inner frame of the 3rd Generation TSF was designed for shock absorption. It was designed to crumble easily upon heavy impact. Thus, it was much thinner and it would melt much faster compare to the outer layer armour. At this rate, I won't have to lift a finger. What's the pH of this acid? It's way too corrosive.
But this was truly a miracle. If it wasn't, what was?
Firstly, the heat from the exothermic reaction that creating this escape path didn't set the leaked propellant afire. It was one of the scenario could happen if I was to make a mistake, controlling the flow of the acid. Strictly speaking, this Shiranui was now a kettle of explosive that could easily set off with any spark. I could easily kill myself if the acid came to contact with the thrusters and the lower portion of the Shiranui.
Secondly, I bet my entire fortune on the acidity of this alien produced acid, able to eat through the inner frame of the Shiranui. If it didn't, it would be all for naught.
Clang
My ears registered strange echoes, something was moving. It wasn't a sound produced by the collapsing rubbles from the street above.
Clang
Whatever they were, they were approaching me at great speed.
My pulse quickened as my survival instinct kicked in. Something's wrong here.
My head felt light as the whole cockpit was slowly filled with the stinking air of sewer. The back of my cockpit which is now the floor was drenched in acid, smoking. My eyes were watery as they were contracting with the stinking smoke. My head touched the monitoring screen that now became my ceiling as my body tensed up like a compressed spring. If the thing approached me at the moment was what I thought it was, I must make my escape quick.
The escape route of mine looked like a distorted mouth of some kind of monster. Its breathed was stinking and hot, its gel like saliva could melt my body in seconds if I came into contact with it. But, it's large enough. A gate of hell and a monster's mouth it was, but it's also my one and only escape route.
With the thermal blanket cloaking over my entire body, I made the plunge.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
The auxiliary siren on Marimo's Gekishin abruptly wailed, notifying Marimo of multiple incoming masses among the collapsing debris. Slower than most of the existing TSF, the 1st Generation machine base on the Phantom series made an impossible manoeuvre.
A short distance boost saved Marimo from a destroyer class from being pulverized.
If the operating system was anything other than the XM3 and the pilot was anyone less skilled than Marimo, the Gekishin's fate was already sealed. If any of the above condition didn't meet, the impossible manoeuvre wouldn't able to carry out.
A chain of 36mm shells that ripped through the expose back of the destroyer was delivered immediately by the airborne Gekishin.
Marimo poured another salvo of 36mm shells at the dusty cloud using her left and right main arm cannon. Among the sound of shell hitting the hardened surface of asphalt and concrete, the splattered sound of liquid mixed in. And then, emerging the dreadful figures of the BETA of different classes.
Marimo promptly distanced herself from the incoming BETA with several inverted boost jumps, maintaining a favourable length. With incredible proficiency, Marimo loaded the last of her 120mm round into her cannon, switching from squash head into sabot.
The two cannons mounted on the Gekishin's sub arms were already discarded to lighten the load as they were both ran out of bullet. Using the now freed sub arms, Marimo kept pouring lead while loading the last of her 36mm magazine into the two remained cannon.
With lesser than 200 shells, it won't last a full minute in semi auto.
Immediately, Marimo switched her gun from semi auto mode into sniping mode.
Ten tank classes came out of the smoke, ten glowing shells ripped through the flying soothe and ten corpses produced.
Dozens of destroyer and Grappler classes surfaced from the rising black smoke, taking advantage of the pause from Marimo's artillery.
No matter how much bullets Marimo poured, they kept on crawling, toward her TSF and toward the direction of the boy's fallen Shiranui.
"Die already,"
Marimo cursed angrily as she unleashed the last of her 120mm shell.
Glowing shrapnel blasted into the rank of the crawling monster, momently robbed them of their momentum.
The foremost Destroyers with their ridiculous tough fore armour skidded on the ground, legs were completely ripped off.
Watching the limbless squirming creatures through her retinal projection, Marimo couldn't help but relate them to harmless caterpillars. She almost failed to remember just how deadly those worms like creature can be when they in their top form.
The first row of destroyers that lead the advancing monster suddenly transformed into their deadweight, forming a blockage that hindered their movement. But still, they kept on crawling, relentlessly and fearlessly.
"Die"
Red glowing shell ripped through the flesh of the hideous monster, slowly but effectively kill them one by one.
But, Marimo knew. She won't able to hold back this many BETA on her all with so little of ammunition.
He's really amazing.
Even as she was fighting with her life on the line, Marimo couldn't help but admiring that boy. To think that he would able to survive without necessary equipments and weapons and held that many BETA back before she arrived, that's just plain crazy. It wasn't a feat that anyone can do, even the best Eishis. At least, Marimo herself won't able to replicate it, even if her TSF wasn't a Gekishin but a Shiranui.
Marimo immediately snipe the two grapplers that pushed their way through the corpse of the immobile destroyers. Two hail of 36mm shells dug into the exposed belly and head of the creatures, making them a piece of the barricade that blocking their kin.
Another grapplers died in the same manner, including dozens of tank classes that crawled over the meat barricade.
Using the same tactics, Marimo kept the BETA at bay, for a moment only, until a dried sound from the rotating mechanism inside the cannons rang.
Disengaged the two cannons in each arm, Marimo immediately deployed the twin knives in her arm sheath. Her hands were drenched in cold sweat as she waited for her enemies to come. It's time for close quarter combat now.
It's much preferable for Marimo if she could at least have a melee halberd. But she didn't. She went out with sweeper pack after all.
However, before Marimo could do anything, the earth shook and through her retinal display, a rising mushroom of brilliant orange hungrily devoured at every crawling monsters within her vision.
Afterward, the atmosphere was drowned in the sound of gunfire once again, also the noise of jet engine, several.
"Sergeant, it's the XO's order. I will have you return to HQ immediately"
On Marimo's HUD, a red head appeared.
"Isumi…"
"Sergeant. You and Shirogane are to return to HQ immediately. Everything else comes later."
"That's right. Shirogane is stuck inside his machine. He will need some help. We must hold a line here to prevent the BETA coming toward his TSF. They was acting strange, only focusing on his TSF."
Marimo hastily replied as she endured Isumi's avoiding gaze. It was shameful of her to act like this in front of her former students. But, that alone won't stop Marimo from doing what she can to save Shirogane Takeru. Marimo immediately patched the information regarding Takeru's status and whereabouts to the Valkyries.
"The XO has filled us about that. Please leave it in our hands and return to HQ," Munakata's face appeared on Marimo's HUD this time.
"Instructor, we will make sure that idiot will receive his just punishment after this. So please return to the HQ as order."
It's Hayase this time. She was still trying to be frivolous to lighten the mood, lifting up the tension while hiding her own uneasiness, same method as usual.
"Then, I will…"
Marimo has no time to mutter her reply, for it was intercepted with a faraway explosion. Her eyes widened with horror. The data feedback told Marimo the location of the explosion. It was where Marimo last met Takeru in his damaged Shiranui.
1224 hours, 12th December 2001
Even without looking at it, he could tell that the thick thermal blanket that has been protected him from the dripping acid was burning. And even without opening his eyes, the youth could tell where and how should he made his escape. He watched, imagined and burned that image into his cerebral while he endured watching the acid eating the Shiranui cockpit.
A light tap on the purged head unit with his left foot after the plunge, Takeru spun in the air like a dandelion in the wind. Then with another tap on the purged chest armour with his right foot, like an arrow on a fully draw bow, Takeru propelled himself into the darkness of the city sewer.
The cold floor was more slippery than he believed. Mixed liquids of various origins submerged his legs to over the ankle. The youth spun around, trying to find his footing as he threw away his burning coat. He awkwardly slipped, unable to control the inertia as he was desperately fighting to regain his footing on the slippery wet ground with his hands. For a moment, the youth believed that his nostril was dead. A whip of rotten scent invaded his nose and messed his olfactory perception. The irritated smell of the leaked gasoline, the metallic smell of blood, the smell of his carbonized thermal coat and the rotten smell of the long abandoned sewer, they hit the youth all at once.
Under the dim light of the lightstick that pinned on his uniform, the boy realized just how terrible the state of his TSF. But he had almost no luxury to waste, feeling sorry for his loyal steed. The trudging sound of something heavy treading on muddy water echoed through out the darkened sewer put Takeru on heightened alert. Takeru immediately distanced himself from his fallen TSF and hid himself among the piles of rubble.
Squish squash, the darkened cavern was filled with that scary echo as Takeru breathed as softly as possible. Then came the sound of metal being ripped off, the sound of metal being crumpled and chomped.
Shirogane Takeru held back his breath as he turned his head, peeking at the direction that the eerie noise originated from.
Spider like shadows crawled all over his Shiranui, tearing the outer layer armour away with their powerful arms and chewing the fallen TSF with their powerful jaws. It was incredibly hard to discern those monsters out with the dim light provided by the lightstick and the flickering rays of light than managed to arrive in this sewer. But even so, there was no way for Takeru to miss the distinguished figures of the Venators, his worst nightmare.
Where did they come from? Did Marimo fail to spot them or did something happen to her? They were still searching for the box. Should I abandon it? Should I make a run? Should I kill them all?
Takeru's head began to process the situation, trying to figuring out the best option. In a speed that it could never achieve before, his brain started to work with deadly efficient. He stopped worrying about Marimo's condition immediately at the sight of the Venators. She should be safe. Even now, this entire cavern was still shaking from the noise of mixed gunfire. It meant that she was still fine. But he himself wasn't.
Smaller and feebler than the rest of the BETA strand, yet the Venator held an imposing weight on Takeru's heart compare to the other strands. Even now, it was still true. Though his mind was furiously working toward how to get him out of this bind, his entire body was shaking all over. For a moment, he thought he truly lost control of his body for once. His teeth were chattering non stop. He couldn't reign back the violent trembling that took over his body. He couldn't stand seeing them. He revered them, feared them, loathed and detested them more than anything in this world, the Venator.
It was as if a portion of this world's Shirogane Takeru squirmed inside him, remembering how they tore at him, crushed him alive in front of Sumika. It was as though it was only yesterday, they took Marimo away right before his two eyes, savagely killing her and painted his world red with her blood. It was the Venators that did that to him, inflicting that mental scar in his mind for the rest of his life.
No matter what kind of command that his brain kept on sending to the rest of his body, it didn't work. The trembling was uncontrollably endless.
The Exoskeleton fortified suit was soaked in Takeru's sweat, the sewer's liquid and gasoline, running cold despite the thermal function. Was the thermal mechanism malfunctioned or was it perhaps his own imagination? Takeru couldn't tell without doing thorough check up on his suit. But now, it wasn't the time. And even if he had such luxury, he couldn't carry it out with this trembling body of his. His breathing, too, got out of control, conspicuously ragged and heavy than ever.
Squish squash, a Venator for some reason stopped crawling on the fallen Shiranui and instead moved toward Takeru's hiding spot.
Go away, go away
Did it detect his present? What's it that gave away his position to the monster? His breathing? His smell? His body heat? Shirogane Takeru had no idea which it was as he tried to suppress his heavy breathing and hope that the monster would turn back at any time. But, no matter how much Takeru inwardly cried, the monster seemed to have no intention of joining the fray with its fellows.
Nothing worked according to his wish, not the monster, not the current state of battle against the BETA and not even his body.
Was this the real him, the real Shirogane Takeru? Was this the truth of Shirogane Takeru?
That single question came across the youth's mind like a flash of lightening. And immediately, the youth denied it with all his might.
Takeru's teeth savagely sank into the soft flesh that was his lips. Iron like taste liquid spew out. The shaking that hitherto dominated him seemed to turn to the worse, uncontrollable and unstoppable. But, this time, not out of fear, of remembering his past trauma or it was a reaction from his relapsing PTSD. It was rage, an unfathomable fury like that of hell fire.
He may fear them, revered them and shook his body like crazy at the first sight of them. But, he will never bow his head to them.
Slamming his fist into the concrete wall in a fit of fury to put an end to his shaking, Shirogane Takeru then jumped out of his hiding spot. His right hand swiftly found the way to the handgun pouch at his waist. His decision was set and Shirogane Takeru squeezed the trigger.
If someone else was to put their leg into his shoes in this situation, they wouldn't able to think straight as him. Their mind won't able to maintain the logic even if their ultimate action was the same.
Detonated the Shiranui and killed the surrounding BETA with the machine. It was the most logical answer to the bind that he was in.
Firstly, Yuuko will mobilize the armoured troops once this news came into her ears. There was no reason for her to keep this entire messy situation once the liability of the ALTERNATIVE IV which was the box inside my TSF no longer existed. It would increase the survival percentage of the Valkyries and Marimo by a huge number.
Secondly, the noise of gunfire had increased, in number. Marimo must meet up with the Valkyries by this moment. She won't die easily even if she mistakenly believed that he committed suicide here.
Lastly, even if he put up a fight here, emptying his two magazines, he wouldn't still able to win this battle. He also could not run away. He won't able to outrun these monsters in this dark sewer. But, if he detonated the Shiranui here, he may have a chance to survive.
A spark of orange flashed through Takeru's eyes as he believed that he has hit the Shiranui's Jump unit. As he turned and duck into the ground, a violent inferno spread and devoured everything on its part.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
"XO…"
"Now is not the time General, I will explain later"
Whatever the CO of Yokohama UN base was about to say remained unsaid due to Yuuko's interruption. Though, it would not be hard to guess. The enemies were at their door and Yuuko had every combatable troop and armoured squadron on standby except her personal squadron the Valkyries. That's not the only thing Yuuko did though. Communication jamming and data interference was also ordered. Thus, the whole base was in a state of confusion and utter chaos. The only people that knew left from right in this situation were all among the CIC inside the command post.
"XO, total destruction of Shirogane's TSF confirmed"
Suzumiya Haruka's voice was devoid of its warmth. Her face was pale cold as she passed on the message to Yuuko.
"Stop the jamming. 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th Armoured Battalion move to engage enemy unit with A01. The other, remain on standby, waiting for new order." Yuuko swiftly ordered. Her face was emotionlessly cold as though the earlier news was none of her business.
"…Roger…"
People in the CIC room could only act as they were ordered, completely swept away by Yuuko's coldness. Though they used to it, almost too familiar with such working style and order from Yuuko. But, it was still shocking to everyone, seeing Yuuko herself who didn't bat an eyelid after received such grave news regarding one of her direct subordinate. However, that's why they all including Yuuko herself failed to see it, the thin drop of crimson sagged from Yuuko's lips.
XXXXXXXXX
Did I pass out for a moment?
The youth choked loudly as a whiff of smoke ran up his nostril. His ears were ringing. His lungs were much starved for oxygen in this smoke filled air. His body was heavied. His limbs numbed. His muscle twisted in pain for even the smallest movement he made.
Fire, dust and soot, those were the only thing that his hurt blurry eyes could register.
So much for the state of art multi functional armoured suit that he was wearing, it could not fully protect him against his limitless recklessness. Torn and charred, such was the current pity state of the suit. But, if it wasn't for this suit, he would have been long dead.
Stay low, avoid breath in smoke.
As the youth tried to prevent getting himself killed by the smoke, a piece of what used to be his thermal blanket landed on his hand, tattered and burnt. He couldn't even tell this was the result from contacting with the acid of the Fort class or perhaps it was the fire that did that to the thermal blanket.
Where was my gun? What's about the BETA?
Logical questions eerily flooded Takeru's mind as he rambled his hand into the emergency kit box at his back. The priority was set and he just acted accordingly to his judgement. But, the youth himself never realize just how abnormal it was. It was more than scary that he was able to maintain his reasoning under this circumstance. It was literally abnormal.
As the youth ran his trembling hand, searching for the switch, the SOS signal emission mechanism started working after a small blip. And then, darkness returned, enveloped everything within the cavern.
Unsightly! You are not supposed to lie down like this. You are a…
Shirogane Takeru sank into the world of void this time. He could hear no sound nor could he see anything nor could he feel anything.
Author:
Eh? Yuuko, why are you in such passive position this time? Aren't you a genius?
Did that question come across anyone? I'm sure that everyone found it's strange that Takeru was able to make such a big mess in front of Yuuko's nose. Ahhhh… I don't think I will able to reply that question any time soon. So please put up with that for the next few chapters until the needle is out of the bag.
Eh? Marimo, why the hell are you here? You are not even an active field officer. Shouldn't you acting like a role model for your cadet as you are a field instructor? It's just totally illogical that you appeared here.
Well, if anyone was curious about that, "Please look forward for the next update." That's all I can answer at this moment. I hope I won't disappoint anyone though. Thanks for reading and supporting as always.